VERNAL – The Uintah Utes overcame an early 14-0 hole and edged out the Snow Canyon Warriors 25-23 with a field goal in the closing seconds Friday at Uintah High School.
Uintah kept a last shot drive alive with a key fourth down conversion, and set up Ute freshmen Treven Mckeachnie with a game-winning 26-yard attempt with 10 seconds left. McKeachnie, cool under pressure, buried the game winning field goal to help UHS knock off SC.
“Uintah had a huge fourth-down conversion,” Warrior head coach Mike Esplin said. “And they have a really good young kicker with college offers. We thought he might have some freshmen nerves, but he nailed it.”
Uintah, which moved the ball all night with 388 yards offense, overcame four turnovers on the way to winning the season opener. The Warriors nabbed three interceptions and a fumble while only giving up one turnover, but were unable to come away with a win. Snow Canyon’s Chris Poulsen had a stellar game on the ground, scoring twice on 17 carries for 153 yards.
Snow Canyon had taken a 23-22 lead in the third quarter. Britton Webster intercepted a pass and took it in for a score to make it 22-20, but the Warriors misfired on the potentially tying two-point conversion. Later in the quarter, Kolton Barber made a 46-yard field goal that gave SC the lead until that final kick.
The Uintah Utes are 1-0 and will play at Pine View next Friday. The Warriors drop to 0-1 and will travel north next Friday to play Shelley, Idaho, at Holt Arena in Pocatello as part of the Rocky Mountain Rumble.
For more on this game, including more quotes and stats, check out St. George News’s Saturday Breakdown Saturday morning.
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